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Man hijacked webcams to spy on people having sex

A cyber criminal hijacked computers to spy on people having sex through their webcams, the National Crime Agency (NCA) has said.

Stefan Rigo, 33, used malware called Blackshades to give him control over
strangers' cameras and spent five to 12 hours a day watching what they were doing in front of their computers.

Editorial Image Credit: Press Association

The NCA said he was addicted to monitoring his victims, some of whom he knew and some who were complete strangers.

Rigo was given a 40-week suspended prison sentence, placed on the Sex Offenders Register for seven years and ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work by magistrates in Leeds after he admitted voyeurism at a previous hearing, the agency confirmed.

A spokesman said Rigo was arrested in November last year as part of an
international operation targeting users of software designed to remotely take
over, control and steal information from computers.

He said the defendant used his ex-girlfriend's bank details to pay for and
download the Blackshades malware, which gives the user complete control over target computers anywhere in the world.

The software can turn victims' webcams on and off, access banking or other
personal information, download new and potentially illegal content, and instruct the victim's computer to help commit acts of criminality such as
denial-of-service attacks.

The NCA spokesman said investigators found a series of images on Rigo's
computer that involved people engaged in sexual acts over Skype or in front of their computers.

He said the defendant admitted using functions of Blackshades that enabled him to control webcams and monitor their desktops, enabling him to obtain passwords and email content.

Rigo, from Leeds, admitted voyeurism offences in September and has also
admitted offences under the Computer Misuse Act.